It wasn’t intentional, but over our Christmas roadtrip, we seemed to visit quite a few cathedrals. Not for spiritual reasons, you understand. We love a cathedral for its architecture and gloriously over the top rich interiors. First stop was one we know very well – Durham Cathedral. Having grown up near here, it’s a place […]
Posts tagged france
Christmas in Metz
We first discovered the beautiful medieval city of Metz, two years ago, on our first road trip from Istria to England, for Christmas. Positioned where it is, in north eastern France, it was a good place to stop and break up the journey to Calais. We’ve stayed a few times since – and although there […]
Discovering Metz
One of the best things about living on the continent now, is that we can completely dispense with flights. I think there are few things, travel-wise, more stressful, than the whole airport experience, of checking in, security, hanging around, queueing – and then at the end of it, you’re squashed into a cramped seat, generally […]
Road Trip
We’ve made a few trips back to England since we moved out to Istria, and we’ve just completed our second road trip. Driving is definitely not the quickest way to get back, but it’s surprisingly less stressful than flying. And especially landing in a UK airport. Specifically Manchester… Last time we drove, we headed across […]
Onwards from Nice…
We had originally planned to end our winter road trip in Ravenna, in Italy, spending four days at Alighieri Theatre Charming Suite but we felt that we had been on the road long enough, and so, in very nice communcations with Silvia, the owner, decided to postpone until later in the year. However, we also […]
La Rochelle
From Plougasnou, after saying goodbye to our Didsbury friends, we headed south-west to La Rochelle, capital of the Charente-Maritime department. The plan had been to take in the Carnac Stones and make a return to the beautiful Vannes, characterized by narrow cobbled streets and medieval gates and half timbered houses. But again, the weather conspired […]
England to France
With Christmas over, and a brilliant time had in Manchester and the North East, we set off on the long journey, by car, back to Istria. Luckily, we’d planned ahead and scheduled in some great stops, the first being spending New Year with friends in Brittany. The journey from Manchester to Portsmouth was pretty uneventful […]
Troyes to Calais
Troyes is a town in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. Its medieval old town features narrow, cobbled streets lined with colorful, half-timbered houses, mostly dating from the 16th century. The town is home to several Gothic churches with striking stained-glass windows. These include the Troyes Cathedral, the Église Sainte-Madeleine and the Basilique Saint-Urbain. […]